Keelhaul that filthy landlubber,
Send him down to the depths below!
Make that bastard walk the plank,
With a bottle of rum and a yo ho ho!
Your temples feel like drums someone has spent the night playing quite vigorously, your eyes throb behind your eyelids and your tongue feels… hairy? The smell of unwashed bodies, blood and urine mix in your nostrils as you awaken to find yourself totally in darkness. You do not recognise your surroundings, but you can feel the floor shift under you, signalling you are probably on a ship and no longer in the Formidably Maid, the Tavern you ended the night in.
The Lady is kind, you have your symbol and you are on a ship, how bad can things be?
Whoever these bastards are, you are going to make sure they pay for shanghaiing you!
’Huh… a tooth.’
You can feel the ship shift under you, rolling in the sea, and it gives you comfort.
It wasn’t much, she didn’t help you or anything, but at least she didn’t harm you! You shrug your shoulders and smile as you feel two of your daggers shift in their sheaths where they remain hidden. They haven’t got the better of you yet!
Luckless Lou lived a long and happy life, and died with a mountain of treasure so you know… Adventure here you come!
Before you can do little more than open your eyes and wonder about the lack of equipment and your circumstances, you hear heavy footfalls on the boards, before being blinded as light floods the hold. Squinting against the glare of the lamp, you find yourself staring at a man with long black hair, holding a whip. Behind him stands a collection of burly, grizzled looking pirates, each carrying a sap in their meaty fists, grinning at you maliciously. Before you can register much more, your eyes are drawn back to the man before you with a loud crack of his whip.
“Still abed with the sun over the yardarm? On your feet, ye filthy swabs! Get up on deck and report for duty before Cap’n Harrigan flays your flesh into sausage skins and has Fishguts fry ye up for breakfast!”
Vex groaned a bit, her hands quickly shooting up to her head, anyone else might think it was due to a headache or to hold her ears from the sudden burst of sound, but in reality, she was checking if she somehow maybe reverted to her kitsune form. She hadn't. She gave a mental sigh of relief
She slowly gets up, groaning a bit more, but mostly for their sakes. To hide the fact that she is more worried about her 'looks' at this point in time than anything else
"I'm up... I'm up..." she grumbles, still a bit shaky on her feet. Yes, feet. No tail. Good.
Sodding damnation. Shanghaied. How did I let that happen?
Sizing up the situation, Amara decides to make the best of it and tries to manipulate the man to get him more favorable.
"Whips so early in the day? Why, I thought we were friends last night in the Maid." Amara stands up and smiles.
[dice=Diplomacy][1d20+11] 2 + 11= 13
Cuff grin's at the situation he has found himself in, a challenge was always something that interested him and what greater challenge better than this? Mama will be so proud of him when he brings her back these men's corpse's and all as the captain of a ship. For now though, it is time to play along... Shame about the tooth though.
"Oh me aching..." Ondir shuffles to a kneeling position, and from there to his feet, doing his best to shuffle the two blades into properly concealed locations on his body.
That done, he rises to his bare feet, callused and worn from years on the decks of many ships. Fingers of one hand poking and prodding at the bruises and wounds around his face, he turns to face the man with whip. "You could ave' just asked if you needed some new crew mate, never let it be said a Stormeye refused the call of a ship. Up we are though, wouldn't want to upset the Cap'n would we."
Nameless rises slowly, eyes narrowing to slits, attempting to take in every detail. For now, outnumbered and unarmed, Nameless obeys, remaining silent, watching for any opportunity he may take advantage of.
Cuff stands up and locks eyes with the whip wielding man.
"We'll... Wot we doin this day sir? I'm ready teh work." The words drip from his mouth in a tone that makes his inner anger clear. He is, however, not lying. Mama always said "be patient Cuff" and cuff always listens to what mama says.
I let my guard down. Too bad. I should have been more cautious. Let's try to make sure there will be another time for cautiousness.
Cadj looks at the other people shangaied by the pirates crew
What a ragtag. An half orc, some women, and some strangely-skinned folks. And no slip to serve me. This is not Cheliax anymore.
Cracking his neck, Cadj looks at the crew of pirates and the whip carrying man.
Let's say that the night before was tougher than expected.
Could I turn this disaster into an opportunity? By Asmodeus, I'll rise to the challenge and work my way up. For now I'll take orders, but then I'll give them. And I'll get my cruel revenge on you, whip man. I swear it, by the Nine Hells.
A warmless smile on his lips
I'm ready to serve Captain Harrigan to the best of my abilities.
Scourge arches an eyebrow at the burly, lippy Half-Orc, before lashing out with his whip, catching Cuff on the cheek and inflicting a small, superficial cut.
"You'll bloody mean those words and lose that attitude boy, if you know what's good for ya. And as for the rest of you..." He turned to glare at the others. "Just shut yer damn mouths and get up on Deck. Cap'n is waiting to talk to the lot of ya!" Scourge grumbles, stepping out of the door and allowing the six burly pirates to move in and being hustling you all out of the room and up towards the main deck of the ship.
After a bit more pushing and shoving, eventually you find yourself on deck, set apart from the rest of the crew, and standing beside a group of four people who, by the looks of their clothes and confused expressions, must also be new 'recruits'. Standing before you, hands pressed to his hips, is a tall fierce looking man who exudes an air of command. As you settle in to place, he steps forward with a cruel grin beginning to cross his face.
“Glad you could join us at last! Welcome to the Wormwood! My thanks for ‘volunteering’ to join my crew. I’m Barnabas Harrigan. That’s Captain Barnabas Harrigan to you, not that you’ll ever need to address me. I have only one rule—don’t speak to me. I like talk, but I don’t like your talk. Follow that rule and we’ll all get along fine." He makes to turn away, before glancing back at you all, as if he had just remembered something.
“Oh, and one more thing. Even with you new recruits, we’re still short-handed, and I aim to keep what crew I have. There’ll be a keelhaulin’ for anyone caught killin’ anyone. Mr. Plugg! If you’d be so kind as to make pirates out of these landlubbers, it’ll save me having to put them in the sweatbox for a year and a day before I make pies out of ’em.”
The Captain turns and walks away, leaving you to the tender ministrations of his Lieutenant, Mister Plugg and the ever pleasant Master Scourge. The willowy Lieutenant steps forward, glaring down at you with obvious distaste.
”Welcome aboard the Wormwood ladies and gentlemen. My name is Jacoma Plugg, but you can call me Sir, or Lieutenant, or Mister Plugg, at the very least. Anything less and I will have you beaten. Do it twice and I’ll have you locked in the hotbox myself. Now, down to business, this is not a pleasure boat, nor are you guests, you will work while you are here and you will work hard!” He turned and moved over towards the center of the deck, his hands clasped behind his back.
”This is the mainmast and up above us is the Crowsnest. This is where our lookouts are stationed. The lines and ropes are known as the rigging. Now we are in need of a rigger so we are going to have a little competition, first one up to the Crowsnest becomes a rigger and doesn’t have to swab the deck. Savvy? Boots off and to the line here,” he pointed at a marking on the deck.
”On my mark you’ll scurry up to that Crowsnest or you’ll wish you had. Now…. GO!”
Cuff roars and charges ahead of the rest of the pack, if you hadn't just heard the challenge you would think he was going to tear the mast apart.
Amara watches Cuff scurry up the rope, and looks down at her skinny arms. This isn't going to go well, she thinks.
"How bad is swabbing, anyway?
Amara mutters a prayer to Besmara (Guidance: +1 to next skill check. She can do it over and over.
"Ha! Not so hard!
"Besmara, grant me strength and I'll be such a pirate as would make you proud!" says Amara under her breath, holding on tightly to the rope.
Wow, I'm not doing so badly!
Amara loses hold of the rope and slips, falling to the deck.
She wasnt far behind the other girl as she too seemed to slip and fall at the last stretch of the climb. She does a little tumble as she hits the deck. That couldve been worse... she silently thinks to herself. Trying to look over the bruises she just received from the fall. Seems the other girl isnt doing....
"Gah!" she yipps in surprise and dives to try and help her ease her fall. She was falling from a greater hight than her after all!
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Cadj listens intensely to the captain of the ship, trying to get an idea of his personality, but without too much success
Then, the man calling himself "Plugg" dares them to climb up the mast.
Cadj waits patiently, as the half orc and the two women start to climb.
Of course, the Chelaxian doesn't have much too wait until someone loss his (or her, in that case) footing and falls down the mast, crashing on the deck.
His tone is cold and matter of factual, but respectuous, as he adresses Plugg
Lieutenant, may I take care of these girls quickly? As Captain Harrigan just said, the Wormwood is short of crew, and it would be a shame if someone dies "accidently" for following your orders without enough training beforehand. Let the half orc be our sentinel, if he manages to climb up the mast, he can see better than any human in the dark anyway.
Cuff flies into a rage as he See's Tamara fall merely feet below him.
"CAPTAIN SAID NO DYING!"
Before you get a o the point, where the women have fallen, you feel cold, angry eyes staring at you. You look to find Plugg burning a hole in your face with his piercing gaze. "What the f%+% are you waiting for Princess? A f+@%ing boost? Master Scourge, a boost if you please!
Scourges whip lashes out from behind you, licking across your ear with a sharp crack.
"CLIMB PRINCESS CLIMB!"
Cuffs hand darts out and gets a good grip of Amara, pulling her back to the safety of the lines, stoping the woman from falling. He glanced down to look at hisxhandy work and finds his hand wrapped tightly around her hair. But she is alive, so silver lining and all that.
Cadj shows remarkable coordination for climbing
One more check to reach the top
Cuff will stop raging at the top of the mast causing him to become exauhsted.
Nameless managed to scramble up the mast for 15 feet, before falling back on to the deck. He stands up, ignoring the minor damage he has taken, before scrambling up the pole again, getting up almost 8 feet this time, before landing on his ass again. Not to be deterred, he climbs up again, managing to get up 15 feet before stopping, clinging to the mast.
With grim, almost stubborn determination Nameless struggles to climb higher, face set in a grimace, fighting through the pain, teeth clenched as he tries to continue higher, one hand above the other, focusing his gaze on the masthead above.
Amara looks down at the deck, and back at Cuff, as she clings to the rope. "You saved my life!" She tries to give him a smile, but she still looks terrified. "Anything I can do for you, let me know. You've got a friend in me!" she whispers, and she slides down the rope.
Back on deck, she rearranges her hair and tries to calm down.
Cuff gives Amara a affirmation in the form of a grunt and a (slightly less toothy) smile as he sits on the edge of the crows nest. "No one left to die lass, not here, not now."
Cuff slides down the rope after reaching the top. He walks to the sidelines and watches to see who will get second.
Ondir crosses his arms as he watches the others take first crack at the rigging, it had never been his favored shipboard task in the first place. "Ah well, nothing for it then..." He goes to the rigging and begins hauling himself towards the crows-nest as ordered.
He manages to shuffle up some small distance before immediately slipping down the wet mast several times in a row. -_-
Ondir manages to scramble 30 feet up the mast, slowly, painfully, till his fingers slip and he plummets back to the deck.
Amara's eyes burn with hatred of Plugg and Scourge, which she quickly conceals. She sees Ondir hit the deck and shudders at the sound. With a nod to Cuff, she says "Like the half-orc said, no dying!"
She rushes over to Ondir, clutches her carved wooden skull-and-crossbones, and casts Cure Light Wounds.
Ondir had barely hit the deck when Amara rushed over and began to cast her spell. Golden energy flows from Amara to the unconscious Undine, healing his wounds and leaving him panting on the deck.
Plugg stared at the now conscious Undine, before shaking his head and turning to the rest of you. He pointed at Cuff, "Greenskin, you work for me now. Congratulations, you are a Rigger. Now as for the rest of you... we have another position to fill. Who can cook? Come on, one of you surely has the knack, you can't all be bloody useless!" He frowned, staring at each of you in turn. "I am sick of trusting that the cook will be sober every day, and having to eat slop when he aint, so he needs an apprentice. Now hands up there, which one of you layabouts can cook?"
Amara looks away from the shiny object so that no-one else will notice her staring, and looks for an opportunity to examine it further. Is it close enough to grab?
She attempts to sense motive of the redhead.
Sandara seems interested in your little group, and you sense no hostility from her, just professional interest.
175lbs
Amara stands up and turns to Plugg. "Can't say I know how to cook, but I worked as a barmaid. I can learn, and I know how to handle drunks."
Plugg arches an eyebrow but nods, "Fine. You are our new Cooks Mate. You come with me, you too Greenskin!" He points at Cuff, as Scourge comes to collect the rest of the ground.
Plugg turns to Amara, "Okay girl, you make your way down to the Galley and help Kroop cook the supper. It ain't fancy, if he is sober it'll be easy, but if he ain't and it don't taste good, you'll pay. Chop chop!"
required. If Kroop is drunk, this requires a Profession (cook) or Intelligence check.
Dismissing the Cleric, Plugg turns to Cuff. "Your working the upper rigging today. Grab a climbing harness and a knife from the aft locker and get the hell up the ropes. Don't slip or I'll have to have someone clean ya off the boards!"
Scourge calls the rest of you together in a group and begins to hand out your tasks for the day. "Fancy man, hows your knot work?" Cadj will be spending the day hauling rope and tying knots.
"Mister Slant-Eye here will be working in the Bilges today. Take this knife, the vermin down there is huge and nasty" Scourge tosses Nameless a knife and directs him to go clean out the Bilges.
"The fish man will be catching rats and bugs below deck!" He threw Ondir a bag with a club inside.
"And finally girl, you will be running messages for me and the other Officers. To start, take these to the Quartermaster and await her reply!"
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